Look what we've done....

Ever wonder what happens to you after years and years of nordic skiing?  Do you wonder what impact skiing has on your health, wellness, happiness and personality?  What happens to you when you join HURT nordic?

We can now answer these questions...

click to enlarge

#oops #wearesorry #wheredidwegowrong? #sendusmoreofyourchildrenandwe'lltryagain #can'ttheDonnellyHeg'sYarsevichsandPK'sgiveusafreshcropofkids?

The Director's Cup

The Director's Cup

Since it's founding five years ago, HURT has been a large presence on the Nordic scene: 4 NYSSRA Club Championships, dozens of individual winners, countless podium trips; the list goes on and on. About the only thing holding the team back from reaching even greater heights is a weekly race series. Well, you can scratch that off the list too. 

Beginning this week HURT skiers of all ages and abilities will have a chance to compete in the Director's Cup, a weekly series of races with a sometimes unusual format that will get you skiing faster, and, more importantly, having fun. If that's not enough, the overall winner of the series will get to take home the The Director's Cup.

The cup was hand-crafted by the Director himself some time ago. (Note: By Director I mean the original Director, the George Washington of HURT Nordic.) It took quite a lot of convincing to get the Director's mother to agree to let this masterpiece go, as you might imagine, but she has finally relented. If you win the cup, however, you won't get to keep it forever. It will be a revolving trophy that will pass from winner to winner each year. 

The Director is still working on the complex point system for determining the overall winner and format for the events, but the first event has been set. It is this Wednesday, January 8, at 6 p.m. at the Queensbury school trail. It's called the New Year's Resolution Race. As a HURT skier, you resolve to ski faster, and that's what you'll try to do. Ski a loop around the proposed snow-making course and take your time (all timing for these events is self timing). Now, ski it again and try to go faster. Keep this up for 40 minutes, always trying to ski faster (better pace yourself). Count one point for the first lap and each lap you ski faster than the one before. Go slower one time? That's OK. Make that your new starting time. Try to go faster the next time. At the end of the event, you'll put one token for each point you earn into the cup. The Director, or his next of kin, will then pull a random token from the cup. That will be the race winner. The Director will continue pulling tokens until everyone who competes earns a place. The more laps you negative split, the more tokens you have in the cup. 

So you see, anyone can win. You can even do one forty-minute lap and still have a chance. The Director expects to see you at Queensbury this Wednesday.  

All that for pie?

Pouring rain, dense fog, spring temps and a slushy ski course greeted HURT skiers desperate for ski action yesterday in Osceola for the annual "Pie Race".  With treacherous winter storm conditions sidelining many HURT racers from last weekends opener in Lake Placid the Director was not about to let Mother Nature keep his team from raking in the points again.

So, under strict orders many brave souls drove west with trunks packed with their water skis and floaty-wings.

Poles were rendered next to useless on the soft deep snow of Osceola that had been saturated by the day of rain, visibility and course conditions made "survival" and "keeping equipment from breaking" the main goals for the day.  With legions of high school skiers skiing the course first, the human sized craters that blanketed the trail made for quite a memorable/forgettable "ski race".

The visuals tell the tale....

Visual approximation of the ski trails

Team photo after the event

Mid-race action. 

We interviewed some of the HURT athletes after the event about their experience....

Matt F:  "The more you fall, the more points you get right? I got a "6"!  BOOYAH!"

Chris Y: "Even my pie is wet."

DPK: "Poling would have been nice."

Owen P: "Thankfully my coach made me do a no-pole workout on Friday....I was good and warmed up...tired....but warmed up."

Ed L: Home course advantage!....these suckas don't ski enough on the TUG! 

Bernadette: I drove 6 hours for this?  at least the pie is here.

Seth: "Now I remember why I moved to the U.P! "

Let's all hope the weather rights itself and we can get some real ski racing in. Results here.  Kudos to the Camden crew who ran this race for all.  We thank you and hope you are dry.

Shock Wei-ves

From the desk of the HRT newroom!....shocking report!

The NYSSRA race season is poised to begin a little more than a week from now and most teams are getting together their plans for the season push for the championship.  Last week the HRT news desk picked up a message from the Peru Nordic rumor mill that Andy "Layer of Waste" Wei had been seduced by the black blood brigade and sold his soul to the Denizens of the North.  

Initially it was thought that this was nothing but a nasty rumor/misinformation/news report designed to intimidate, confuse and bewilder the nordic ski community.  How could Andy Wei leave a tried and true winning program for the champions-of-second-place?  Didn't he just drop some serious coin for the HURT racing kit?

Does the unassuming Mr. Wei really moonlight as a serious headbanger/thrasher?  

The HRT newsroom dove deep into this story...following leads to Boston, Glens Falls, Germany, The pits of hell, and Peru, NY to find the truth and get questions answered....

These pictures tell the tale...

Kiss Rocks Boston...special guest Andy Wei....1994

Dusseldorf Metal-Fest 2009

Peru Nordic Weekly training - Peru, NY

The following email was sent from an undisclosed location somewhere between the earth's mantle and outer core....

Dear HURT,

      I have always been a big heavy metal fan, have given in, and signed with Peru... just fits my style better... their blog entry on training zones based on Metallica songs... was 1) hillarious, and 2) works!  Hard diagonal striding uphill on frozen Marwes to "Battery" is awesome...

We caught up with the Director Koziol after the news of this event....

HRT: Are you surprised at the 11th our roster deal offered to Andy Wei by Peru?

D:  Shocked.  Even for Peru this type of coercion is out of their normal bag of tricks.  They really must be gunning for the title this year and are going no-holds-barred.  We suspect that we will see some HURT clad effigies in Andy Wei gear midway up Russian hill. 

HRT: What is your response going to be?  

D:  I am going to be tossing a lot of support to our young talented junior squad this season.  We are excited about the Connor H. threat from the Syracuse area.  We are going for young stars and this guy has a bright future on snow.  The thing about HURT is that we find ways to bounce back.

HRT: If it doesn't pay off, will you be dethroned or resign in disgrace?

D:  for sure, it will be done Napoleon style. 

Not a typical start

We here at the HRT newsroom have grown accustom to the following late November scene...

a) HURT nordic is fit, healthy and ready for the ski season to begin.
b) droves of HURT skiers descend on Kingston High School on a balmy November Sunday to ski away with the team title and enjoy a fun day of hammering away on rollerskis.
c) Return home to wait a month for snow to come. Athletes develop anxiety and frustration each day until the weather finally brings the desired white stuff.

Whelp...2013 has flipped this script right on its head and it has the HRT Newsroom anxiously awaiting the twists and turns of the season to be...

Here is what it looked like...


a) The planned contingent of HURT nordic skiers was decimated in the 11th hour by sickness as one by one HURT veterans pulled out of their Kingston commitment....leaving a small, stalwart shell of a team hoping to stave off challenging clubs from the area.
b) Frigid temps and high winds met the racers made the normal 'shorts-an-a-t-shirt' attire go right out the window.  Athletes were bundled like January in Finland.
c) Cold temps and wet weather means that many HURT skiers have been able to find local snow BEFORE thanksgiving...a rare treat for all.

What will this mean for the season to come?  With the early season sickness out of the way and lots of snow time on the horizon...does this have the Director smiling and licking his chops for a fifth team title?  Or does messing with the system mean all bets are off and its anyones game?

Stay tuned to find out....there is snow at VanHo and things are looking good for that season opener in a couple weeks.  Hope you are ready!!

Father Huneck was one of only a couple HURT master skiers to avoid the plague.

A. Duclos bests her sister by a hair on this day.

HURT squeaks out a team title thanks to some fast skiing and speedy wheels.  

Owen looks to win the "best hair" competition.  (didn't go to well for him)

The Duclos train skiing strong

HURT juniors carry the day.

Ready for Kingston?

KINGSTON RACE!!

November.....turkeys are scared, pumpkins are ripe, and the annual Kingston Nordic Ski race is on the horizon.

Come join HURT nordic for the annual pilgrim-age...(sweeeeet pun, huh!) down to Kingston high school for the annual tour-de-neighborhood hosted by our southern friends.  Put on your fast race wheels and get ready to race!

See this link for registration information: http://kingstonnordic.blogspot.com

Email us at hurtnordic (at) gmail.com if you are interested in carpooling or caravanning.

(visual approximation of a HURT carpool)

Suffer Season

Suffering through October and November is a ritual part of the nordic skiers calendar.  Daylight rapidly disappears, roads are often wet and leaf-filled, chill is in the air yet real snowpack seems hopelessly far away.  Meanwhile training volume and intensity gets ramped up and suffering takes on a whole new meaning.

Despite the apparent misery, it is also one of the most exciting times for HURT skiers.  Those in high school are looking forward to the start of their nordic season, new dates are added on the HURT calendar for team training and HURT Laydz sessions,  race dates are being solidified on the NYSSRA calendar , and new team gear and equipment comes rolling in from Mt. Borah and The Sportspage. Not to mention....HURT skiers secretly love all the hard training ;)

October also brings one of our favorite events: SUFFERFEST

It looks a little something like this...

It is the annual attempt by the Barbaric Berserkers of the Nordic Death Brigade to come south and establish nordic dominance.  Each year HURT has to show up in force to beat back the monsters of the north on the highway of hell known as Prospect highway.  Be sure you sharpen your ski tips, put on your fast wheels and prepare for the battle royale!

...only this is actually what they look like.

When: October 27th, 11:00am
Where: Prospect Mountain Highway, Lake George, NY
Details: Race starts at the toll base, ends at the top.  Bring shoes for the hike down and small bag to carry them up. Be there!


REMEMBER:  THE NYSSRA RACE FOR CLUB DOMINANCE HAS ALREADY BEGUN!

The team with the most NYSSRA members by November 1st wins the first "race".  POINTS ARE ON THE LINE!  Make yourself a member today!